Peace and Redemption: Journey to the Pass of Giants
This week I'm bringing you the recap of the second and third session of the GMless 5e game me and my partner play every now and then (we don't have a dedicated day at the moment).
While the system we chose is 5e and we use Mythic as our GM emulator, I decided to sprinkle some old-school rules here and there to make the game more interesting without it getting too crunchy or cumbersome: for example, during the travel scenes I roll to see if there's a random encounter about 3 times per day, and when an encounter does happen, reaction rolls help us decide whether said encounter is going to end up in a combat or not (as you'll see below).
Like the first part, this recap is written by Tancaliel, my partner, and does not include the dice rolls like I do in my solo sessions, but nonetheless it should not be difficult to catch the spots where rolls happened.
Enjoy!
Caezora and Einar meet with Father Paric to discuss the practical details of the mission. A teleportation network exists between the capitals of the different kingdoms, and to speed their journey along, Einar and Caezora will be allowed to use the portal to Steelgarde. However, that is unfortunately the closest to the mountain pass they can travel quickly, and from there they will have to proceed on foot.
They arrive in Steelgarde, a bit worried that they might arrive in a city already in full preparation for an all-out war. But they find the city for now still relatively peaceful, although upon asking around, there are whispers that the king is indeed gathering his forces, and it seems like he might not keep the peace for much longer.
Caezora and Einar set out towards the mountains, leaving the safety of the city for the forests beyond, following the river. Most of the day passes uneventfully, but in the evening, two dryads suddenly appear out of trees in the forest. The dryads immediately manage to charm Einar, but ultimately, the duo is able to defeat them. Shortly after, they make camp for the night.
Shortly after waking up on their second day of travels, Einar and Caezora are startled by the sudden appearance of a giant spider just outside of their camp. It flits around the surrounding area, seemingly teleporting or phasing in and out of existence. The spider does not appear as if it will have friendly intentions, but for the moment is not outright attacking them either. The two manage to quickly gather their things and then carefully back out of the area without triggering the spider to attack.
A few hours into their continued journey along the river, a hawk flying overhead swoops down to land in front of Caezora and Einar. He transforms into a human man, a druid who was patrolling the area. He starts to question them about what they are doing here, by now quite a ways away from civilisation. Caezora explains the diplomatic mission they are on and how they need to reach the wildlands beyond the mountains, and the druid immediately infers that they are headed for the Pass of Giants. He warns them that the security at the Pass has tightened as of late, and the soldiers there seem tense.
They continue on their separate ways and the rest of the day passes uneventfully for our adventurers, eventually finding a place to set up camp again for the night.
As the two are getting ready to depart the next morning, for what should be the final day of travelling to reach the mountain pass, Caezora receives a telepathic message from her order.
Back at the Temple of Eldath, the order had decided to verify Einar's story. While Caezora and Einar were travelling, one of the acolytes had gone to Stagmaw to investigate, and discovered that Einar's family has disappeared. They were nowhere to be found, with the circumstances of their disappearance unclear. Einar is shocked and worried by this news, and through Caezora, asks the acolyte to help him, and try to find his family. The acolyte refuses, however, considering it a bridge too far to aid him in this way while Einar is still repenting for acolyte Dordan's murder. Caezora also becomes more distrustful of him because of this, considering the possibility that Einar's family is perhaps nowhere to be seen because Dordan was not the only person he killed.
After recovering from the unexpected news, the two set out on the remainder of their journey towards the Pass of Giants. The rest of the day passes without further incidents, and by nightfall they arrive at the Final Post, the aptly named furthest outpost of the Vantesian army at the entrance to the mountain pass. The soldiers posted here are indeed on high alert and wary of strangers, as the passing druid had warned the previous day. They halt Einar and Caezora to question them, but upon learning about the diplomatic mission do not deny them passage. Instead, they are provided with accommodations, to get a good night's sleep before journeying on into the wildlands the next day - much to the tune of “rather you than us!”
They arrive in Steelgarde, a bit worried that they might arrive in a city already in full preparation for an all-out war. But they find the city for now still relatively peaceful, although upon asking around, there are whispers that the king is indeed gathering his forces, and it seems like he might not keep the peace for much longer.
Caezora and Einar set out towards the mountains, leaving the safety of the city for the forests beyond, following the river. Most of the day passes uneventfully, but in the evening, two dryads suddenly appear out of trees in the forest. The dryads immediately manage to charm Einar, but ultimately, the duo is able to defeat them. Shortly after, they make camp for the night.
Shortly after waking up on their second day of travels, Einar and Caezora are startled by the sudden appearance of a giant spider just outside of their camp. It flits around the surrounding area, seemingly teleporting or phasing in and out of existence. The spider does not appear as if it will have friendly intentions, but for the moment is not outright attacking them either. The two manage to quickly gather their things and then carefully back out of the area without triggering the spider to attack.
A few hours into their continued journey along the river, a hawk flying overhead swoops down to land in front of Caezora and Einar. He transforms into a human man, a druid who was patrolling the area. He starts to question them about what they are doing here, by now quite a ways away from civilisation. Caezora explains the diplomatic mission they are on and how they need to reach the wildlands beyond the mountains, and the druid immediately infers that they are headed for the Pass of Giants. He warns them that the security at the Pass has tightened as of late, and the soldiers there seem tense.
They continue on their separate ways and the rest of the day passes uneventfully for our adventurers, eventually finding a place to set up camp again for the night.
As the two are getting ready to depart the next morning, for what should be the final day of travelling to reach the mountain pass, Caezora receives a telepathic message from her order.
Back at the Temple of Eldath, the order had decided to verify Einar's story. While Caezora and Einar were travelling, one of the acolytes had gone to Stagmaw to investigate, and discovered that Einar's family has disappeared. They were nowhere to be found, with the circumstances of their disappearance unclear. Einar is shocked and worried by this news, and through Caezora, asks the acolyte to help him, and try to find his family. The acolyte refuses, however, considering it a bridge too far to aid him in this way while Einar is still repenting for acolyte Dordan's murder. Caezora also becomes more distrustful of him because of this, considering the possibility that Einar's family is perhaps nowhere to be seen because Dordan was not the only person he killed.
After recovering from the unexpected news, the two set out on the remainder of their journey towards the Pass of Giants. The rest of the day passes without further incidents, and by nightfall they arrive at the Final Post, the aptly named furthest outpost of the Vantesian army at the entrance to the mountain pass. The soldiers posted here are indeed on high alert and wary of strangers, as the passing druid had warned the previous day. They halt Einar and Caezora to question them, but upon learning about the diplomatic mission do not deny them passage. Instead, they are provided with accommodations, to get a good night's sleep before journeying on into the wildlands the next day - much to the tune of “rather you than us!”
This is all for this week, see you next Sunday for my next post!
May your dice never betray you,
Kirhon
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